Ukraine launched another major drone barrage against targets inside Russia on Wednesday and hit a Russian military warehouse in the town of Toropets in the Tver Oblast, causing a massive explosion.
Toropets is about 300 miles from the Ukrainian border and 250 miles northwest of the Russian capital of Moscow.
A Ukrainian official speaking to The Associated Press said the attack was carried out by Ukraine’s Security Service, along with Ukrainian Intelligence and Special Operations Forces. The official claimed the warehouse housed Iskander and Tochka-U missiles, glide bombs, and artillery shells.
Russia has stayed relatively quiet about the attack. Russia’s RIA Novosti news agency reported that air defenses were working to repel a “massive drone attack” on Toropets, and Russia’s Health Minister said 13 people were wounded in the Tver region.
The attack came as Ukraine was pushing for the US to allow the use of NATO-provided missiles to strike deep inside Russia. AP reported Wednesday that the US is still not convinced it should support long-range strikes on Russian territory and said it is seeking more information about what sort of targets Ukraine would want to hit.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has issued a strong warning about the matter, saying if the US decided to lift restrictions on Ukraine’s use of the missiles, it would mean NATO is at war with Russia.
“It would mean that NATO countries, the US, European countries, are at war with Russia. If that’s the case, then taking into account the change of nature of the conflict, we will take the appropriate decisions based on the threats that we will face,” Putin said last week.
